This much is clear from their new Immortal/Epic album, Life is Peachy: Success has neither softened nor satisfied the ferocious Southern California fivesome known as Korn. If anything, Korn vents even more furious aggression and emotional conviction in such uncompromising new songs as "No Place To Hide," "Lost," "Good God," and the nearly nine-minute "Kill You" that they unleashed on the self-titled debut Korn. That gold-certified album was released in October, 1994: Two years, 300-plus live gigs, and more than 700,000 US sales later, it's still hanging on the Billboard/SoundScan Top 200 chart. Korn has earned their success the old-fashioned way through tireless touring, street-level self-promotion, and constant, direct contact with their growing legion of fans. There's no video posturing or fake hype here. And Korn are cyberspace pioneers: In July '96 they became the first band on the Internet and to conduct an interactive radio broadcast during which fans got a sneak preview of Life Is Peachy; saw and heard the band play several of their new songs live, and phoned in questions via an 800 number. Korn is now planning a monthly series of such broadcasts as they continue construction of their unique and comprehensive website . "The coolest thing about this band is we've stayed underground and our fans are still so true," notes singer Jonathan Davis. "They're so militant and crazy about us." As the often-disturbing lyrics and growly, primal playing on Life is Peachy's 14 songs prove, the demons were not fully exorcised on Korn nor even on the band's 18 months of hard-core touring. "The last album was going into high school," Jonathan explains. "This one is high school and after, I guess." The album title was taken from a kids' popular notebook doodling on the omnipresent yellow Pee-Chee folders: "Life is Peachy but sex is an all-season sport." Also drawn from school days is the song "A.D.I.D.A.S."--an acronym for "All Day I Dream About Sex." To capture primal power, the band again worked with producer Ross Robinson, and lived and recorded at the rural, inspiring Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu. "Ross is like the big cheerleader of the band," says Jonathan. "It's all inside of us, but Ross pumps it up. We both came up together in the music biz, so it's been a cool growing experience. Now he's awesome as a producer...and we're doing good." The seeds of Korn were planted in the agricultural community of Bakersfield, California. Fieldy and David, Korn's impressive rhythm section, were high school friends who'd jammed together since their teens. Guitarists Brian Welch and James Shaffer share six (and seven) string duties, note-bending and playing off each other to define the classic Korn guitar sound. Prior to to the founding of Korn, Shaffer, Fieldy and David (with another singer) released an album together, then disbanded and reformed as Creep, with Welch joining in on some Creep shows. Welch and Shaffer were living in L.A. when, on a visit to Bakersfield, they caught Jonathan singing for a local band called Sexart. Fate took over, and within days Jonathan had joined the new band. An artistic outcast in Bakersfield, where his parents owned a music store, Jonathan grew up playing classical music, listening the '80s rock of Duran Duran and Missing Persons, and playing the bagpipes--a decidedly non-rock instrument he deploys to devastating effect in Korn. Jonathan also had a successful pre-Korn career as an autopsy assistant at the Kern County coroner's office. His stint there helped shape the singer's unique views on life, reincarnation and the dark side of human nature--subjects later addressed in Korn's lyrics after the band solidified in its adopted hometown of Huntington Beach, California in 1993. As the title Life is Peachy indicates, Korn is able to see the humor and irony inherent in everyday existence. In fact, drummer David laments, "just because of our music and lyrics, people used to think everyone in the band was depressed or down as people. But no one really is--it's our art. People get the idea that we're on the verge of suicide at 25. So when they meet us, it's like, 'wow, you seem happy.'" Which brings us to the Peachy life Korn leads today. After nearly two years of touring with everyone from 311 to Marilyn Manson to KMFDM to Ozzy Osbourne, Korn was so amped to begin work on their sophomore album that they were in rehearsals within a week after getting off the road. The goal? "We let the music flow," says David. "We only had small bits and pieces written from the road, so when we went in the studio we didn't have a plan. We set up our gear, looked at each other and went: 'Okay.'" And it was. Though the band is "down with the classic Korn sound," Davis notes that Life is Peachy is a maturation on nearly every front. "I'm singing more on this album and the songs are put together better, less basic than the last one. I'm singing my ass off on this album--singing more, instead of screaming so much." The first new song written was "No Place To Hide," followed by "A.D.I.D.A.S.," and from those not very humble beginnings, the songs gushed out. As Korn's singer and lyricist, Jonathan draws on a deep well of angst. On Korn, the closing track "Daddy" was so personal--and so painful--that Korn performed it live only once. The equally wrenching "Kill You," directed at the singer's former step-mom, now closes Life is Peachy. While today Jonathan is a dad himself and understands far more about what parents go through with their kids, his own childhood was deeply troubled nonetheless. Another track, the raging "K@#(%!", should prove no less controversial. Yet Jonathan insists the song is in no way anti-female: If anything, this invective-filled tune is a dis to commercial radio. "That's just my cuss-word song, me talking some crap," says the singer. "I wanted to release that as our first single, just to mess with radio stations, because they've re-edited our songs for airplay before. It's a killer song--I love it." There's some slightly lighter fare on Life is Peachy. If you ever wanted to hear the opening of War's "Low Rider" played on bagpipes, Life is Peachy is the place to find it, with Welch on vocals. The album's first single, "No Place To Hide," addresses Jonathan's momentary anxiety about Korn's success. Low-key and surprisingly soft-spoken off stage, the singer felt hounded by responsibility (hence the tune's title) until he realized Korn was the culmination of his dreams--and the band's success a raised middle finger to the youthful detractors who inspired such songs as the first album's "Faget." Now tighter than ever as friends and musicians, Korn once again is ready to conquer the world: gig by gig, city by city. "It's been so fun hanging out, and all of us writing this album," Davis says. "Now it's back on the road. I love that, but this chapter, this record, was a blast."